Disobedience

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. (1 Kings 11:1-4 ESV)

What happened when Solomon said "yes" to something to which God has said "no"? It's seems fairly obvious that just that act in itself was disobedient but I'm not sure I had really grasped the depth of the consequences to the extent I did as I read the passage this morning. 

Solomon's heart was turned away from God as he turned his heart toward the very thing God had forbidden. Jesus spoke of this in his parable about the dishonest manager in Luke 16, when he said in verse 13: "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Whatever or whoever it is that we place before God, we are serving a new master. The passage above states that Solomon "clung to these in love" and his heart was turned away from God - "not wholly true to the LORD his God."

It's really insidious, isn't it? Whatever the choice is - it may seem very harmless or insignificant at the time - that choice we make has the power to turn a piece of our heart away from God. 

How? The 1 Kings passage goes on to describe how Solomon built an altar, a high place, for the gods of his wives. Surely in the 21st century, we don't literally build an altar to worship those things our heart has turned to. Or do we? We worship our Lord by offering our heart, our time, our talents and our treasures. Have we, in our hearts, erected an altar to something that God has said "no" to by offering our time, our finances, our thoughts? How have we become invested in this "other god"?

I love to play those silly computer games. When I think about how much time those things can suck up before I even realize it, I'm really convicted! That is time that could have been spent so much more meaningfully. We need downtime, it's important to unwind; but can't my downtime be better spent with my Lord? isn't that relationship worth more of my time than a game? How has that seemingly insignificant choice pulled me away from things of God? I'm a multi-tasker; there are lots of things I can be doing and be aware of the Lord's presence with me. 

“That we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him. That it was a shameful thing to quit His conversation, to think of trifles and fooleries.” (from Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God)

Due to Solomon's repeated disobedient choices, more and more of his heart was being turned away from God. It really is a slippery slope; we can so quickly go from having a heart wholly true to the Lord, as Solomon's once was, to having a divided heart, a heart more easily led further and further astray.

I've been thinking lately of the way the Holy Spirit moves and works in my daily life, how I experience his presence, hear that still, small voice and respond to his voice. If the Lord is calling me to re-prioritize my time, he certainly has my attention. Reading this passage this morning, I couldn't move from those verses. No choice in God's kingdom is insignificant. There are so many things seeking our attention and our time that may or may not be good for our souls. How critical it is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. (Matthew 6:33 ESV)